Personal Erasmus Report

Personal Erasmus Report

Universidad de Sevilla, Filología Hispánica

13-02-17

Courses I have taken and earned credits

The 19th _{of September 2016 my Erasmus semester abroad in Seville, Spain started. Since that day I}

have been following five classes at the University of Seville (Universidad de Sevilla) at the faculty Hispanic Filology (Filología Hispánica). I have assisted almost all of the classes of the courses I have chosen. I had chosen five courses which all took place three times a week and each class had a duration of approximately 1,5 hour. Each of these courses was worth six ECTS.

First of all, I chose a course named Gramática Histórica del Español, which was a very interesting class about the transition from Latin to Spanish. The teacher (José Javier Rodriguez Toro) was inspiring and explained the study material very clearly. Also, he made many jokes which made the classes nice to assist. The exam reflected all of the explained material in three questions. It was such an interesting course and I’m very happy that I have followed it. I have assisted all of the classes of this course.

In the second place, I chose a course named Lexicología, Lexicografía y Semántica del Español, which sounded very interesting to me when I chose it. However, in the first three weeks I didn’t like the classes, because I had a very old teacher, named Rosario Guillén Sutil, with a very strong Andalusian accent, who didn’t pronounce the words clearly, so the classes were pretty hard to follow. She used to read her written work out loud, which made the classes feel like a dictation. However, during the weeks I got used to her low voice and pronunciation and I started to understand her explanations in a better way. Although, because of the fact that the teacher was talking very slowly, we didn’t have enough time to talk about all of the study material. The semester was divided in three blocks: the first block was about the Semántica, the second about Lexicología and the third one about

Lexicografía. However, the first block took the teacher ten (!) weeks, which meant that there were

only five weeks left for the remaining two blocks. The second block took the teacher four weeks, which meant that there was only one week left after the Christmas holidays for the last block. We were given study material to read during the holidays, because the teacher didn’t have the time to explain everything. On top of that, on the exam, we were given only two questions. On the first page of the exam we could find two questions of which we were only allowed to answer one. That was alright. But on the other side of the paper, the second question was to be found, that discussed the whole last block (which wasn’t very hard though), but in my opinion this exam wasn’t fair. I have assisted about 45 classes of this course and we were only given two questions about a lot of theory. In my opinion, there should have been more questions, but maybe in Spain they are used to do it like this.

In the third place, I have followed a course named Las Lenguas del Mundo, which was a very

interesting course that discussed the position of the languages in the world. Also, we learned how to describe the typology and classification of languages. The teacher, José Francisco Salguero Lamillar,

was a very inspiring man who explained everything very clearly. He used powerpoints, as opposed to the teacher of Gramática Histórica del Español and Lexicología, Lexicografía y Semántica del Español, who only used paper and books, which is (to me) a very old style of teaching. During the semester we had to adapt a no Indo-European language (neither Arabic nor Chinese) about which we had to write a typology on our exam. I chose the Estonian language, which was a very interesting one, but I would have preferred to write an essay about that language, because I could have done way better than I did. The rest of the questions (only four again) on the exam were pretty hard to answer, but the teacher had warned us at the start of the semester for this.

These three courses were part of the second year of the study Filología Hispánica, but I also followed two courses from the third year. In the first place, I assisted a course named Análisis del Discurso y

Pragmática del Español. Before chosing this course, I had some doubts, because it sounded very hard

to me. I preferred some other courses from the list, but unfortunately these courses were given in the second semester, so I wouldn’t be able to follow them. During the first week of the semester, I still was in doubt to keep following this course, because it turned out to be very hard. But I hoped that it would get easier during the semester. However, it only got harder and the difference between the level of the second year courses and the third year was a very very big gap. In the courses of the second year it didn’t always feel like I was doing an academic study, but in the third year courses the level was higher and it did feel academic. Unfortunately, during the exam I regretted my choice of following this course and I really hoped I would approve it, because this was the hardest course I have ever followed, due to the philosophical part. Which was pretty nice of the teacher, Esperanza del Rocío Alcaide Lara, was that se posted the examination questions on the internet, so we could study some texts (also provided by the teacher) and answer the questions by forehand to get a higher chance of approving the course. I didn’t expect her to do that because she was a very strict teacher.

Last but not least, I chose to follow the course Historia del español I (Antigüidad y Edad Media), which was a very interesting course. The teacher, Santiago del Rey Quesada, was inspiring and knew so many things. I loved to listen to him and of course I assisted all but one of his classes. He spoke so many languages and he knew so much about them. The hard part about this course, that discussed the transition of the Iberic peninsular from prehistory till the Middle Ages, were all of the details about the change of the languages. The teacher used powerpoints that summed up the most important information from the texts provided by the teacher, but all of those details looked a lot like each other and that is the reason why I almost didn’t approve my exam. Fortunately, I knew how to answer the last question (out of three) on the exam and that saved my grade.

Quality of education and the level of information and help provided by the host

institution

As already mentioned before, the courses of the second year of the study were interesting, but the level didn’t feel very high. The courses of the third year had a higher level that felt more academic. The first weeks of the semester were pretty hard, because not only me, but all of the Erasmus students had to get used to the Andalusian accent in which the classed were given. Fortunately, most of the teachers did their best to pronounce their words clearly so everybody could follow them. On the other hand, I didn’t understand the Spanish students. Their accent was so different and they talked so fast, so most of the time I had to ask what they said. After trying to talk with them a couple

of times I gave up, like the rest of the Erasmus students and that was when the division in the classrooms started. Spanish students didn’t talk to “Los Erasmus” and the Erasmus students didn’t talk to “Los españoles”. In my opinion it is such a shame, but this is how it works. Blending in is very hard in a class where all of the Spanish students already know each other, so you are more tempted to become friends with the persons who don’t know anyone else, like the Erasmus students. This also made it harder to follow the classes, because normally I would ask somebody something I don’t understand, but there was a high boundary to ask the Spanish students for the meaning of certain things. I also didn’t really talk to the teachers, because we only had lectures (no seminars) and the teachers always left before the students did. At this university, the teachers change rooms, whilst the students have classes in the same room every day.

Reception and accommodation at the host institution

Before the semester even started, me and my housemate, who was going to the same faculty as I did, had to arrange many things. First of all, we had to go to the Centro Internacional, where we had to hand in a copy of our passport, a copy of our European Healthcare card and a photograph for our student card. After that we had to go to a bank to pay some money for that student card that we later had to order via the website of the university and it got delivered at our house. The next week, we had to sign up for the courses. We couldn’t do this online, so we had to figure out the courses on the internet, make a timetable in which we had chosen the groups and after that, we had to go to the secretary of the faculty (which was a bit hard to find…) to get enrolled in the courses. What we didn’t know, was that we first had to make an appointment. So after waiting for half an hour, we had to sign up for an appointment. I could come the next day, but my housemate had to go the day after that. So we went there the next day and I got lucky by getting enrolled in just the right groups which meant that my courses didn’t clash. My housemate the day after didn’t get that lucky. The woman of the secretary just enrolled her in random groups, which meant that she would have clashing courses and because of that we had to come back the next day… but fortunately it got solved in the end. So it took us a whole week to get everything arranged and signed. I was a good thing that I arrived two weeks early before the semester started because it took a lot of puzzling out all of the steps to study in Seville. It wasn’t clear and I’m happy that we sorted it out. So I would recommend to get to your Erasmus country as early as possible to have enough time to sort things out in time.

Before going to Seville, finding an accommodation gave me a lot of stress, since I couldn’t find a house. A student from Groningen told me about the site of Idealista to find an accommodation, but unfortunately, none of the owners of the rooms I applied for responded or if they responded they said the time of my stay was too short. So I had to find another option. The same student told my about the website of Housing Anywhere and there I found a room via the rental business Room

Sevilla. After calling with the company of Housing Anywhere (because I wasn’t sure about sending

them my money in the first place…) I booked the room and paid the deposit. The woman who works for Room Sevilla added me on Facebook and asked me if I wanted to use the pick-up service form the airport. Somebody of the company would come and pick me help, help me with my luggage and hand me over the keys of my new apartment. This cost me 45 euros, but I’m glad I did it, because otherwise I would have had to stay in a hostel for the first night to pick up my keys the next day at the office. It was a good looking apartment, but unfortunately the flats in Spain don’t have heaters, so it got pretty cold in the winter. In the opinion of one of my roommates we paid too much for the flat, but to me it was alright.

Contacts with teachers and students support from home institution

I didn’t really need the contact with my teachers in Groningen, because after a few weeks, I had sorted out everything and I could follow all of my classes without any problems. I also had to follow a course in The Netherlands, via internet. One of the assignments was to have Skype conversations with the teacher. I had two conversations of fifteen minutes with my teacher, which in my opinion was not enough, but I understand that the teacher didn’t have time to have more Skype

conversations with all of the students. But it was a good practice. I had a lot of contact with a student from my year who studied in Bilbao during the same semester and we helped each other a bit with sorting things out. There were also two other students of Groningen in Seville and I have seen them maybe five times at the university. We didn’t follow the same courses and when we did, we weren’t in the same groups. But that was alright. When we met each other in the hallway, we shared some thoughts about our stay and about the courses.

Estimation of expenses during my exchange

Spain is a less expensive country than the Netherlands. However, I had to pay 370 euros every month for rent of my room. Also I had to pay almost 400 euros every two months to the RuG, but because of that, I didn’t have to pay tuition for the Universidad de Sevilla, which is nice. Before I went on my Erasmus exchange, I received about 500 euros from the Erasmus Grant, which didn’t cover all of my expenses, so I really needed the Study Finances I received from DUO in the Netherlands. Without that loan I wouldn’t have been able to survive these five months, because I didn’t have the

opportunity nor time to work since I already had to follow five courses in Spain and also one in the Netherlands.

Problems I have encountered, personal observations and recommendations

accommodation. Also, I needed the Universidad de Sevilla to sign my Learning Agreement Before Mobility. I sent that document to them by e-mail, but they didn’t send it back to me. They told me that I had to get enrolled in the courses when I would be in Sevilla. So I had to wait for the signatures on my documents. They also responded very late every time. In Spain the mentality is “mañana mañana” and they all take their time. Like now, because I still haven’t received any grades from the Universidad de Sevilla. I made the last test two and a half week ago, but the grades aren’t available yet. But that’s a big problem, because I have to hand in all of these documents with my grades within 30 days. In my opinion, this deadline is too small, because I don’t have this in hand. It would be such a shame if I wouldn’t receive the rest of my grant because of the slow work of the Universidad de Sevilla.

I would recommend to everybody who is going on an exchange to start early with all of the applications and getting signed all of the documents. Following the steps provided by the Mobility Office on their website helped me a lot. And make sure you search for a room in time. As mentioned before, the website of Housing Anywhere made me find my apartment. And last but not least, make sure you get to your country of exchange in time to figure out all of the missing information you need to have a good stay. Also, try to get in contact with the native speakers of the country you are going to, because that’s the only way to learn the language. Just by following the courses and writing down

your notes you are not going to reach the C1 or C2 level. To Spanish people going out to eat something is very important, so try to ask them to get some tapas and talk. It will help you a lot to practice.

I hope all of this information is helpful for anyone who considers going to study at the Universidad de Sevilla. I really loved my time in that city and I really enjoyed the courses I have taken. I have made a lot of friends with many different nationalities which is very interesting. My Erasmus exchange was an amazing time!